Yesterday, Steve Mendell, president of Hallmark/Westland failed to appear before a congressional food-safety hearing and key Democrats are now considering whether to subpoena him.Â Committee Chairman John Dingell and investigations panel Chairman Bart Stupak, both Michigan Democrats, were concerned when Mendell didn’t appear at the congressional hearing.Â “It appears he has refused our offer to testify voluntarily,” Dingell said.Â “We now will have to consider whether we need to compel his appearance to probe how onsite USDA inspectors could have missed these safety problems and the inhumane treatment of the animals that were slaughtered there,” Dingell added.Â The Humane Society video, played at the hearing, showed workers kicking sick cows and forcing them to stand with prods and forklifts.Â The federal government prohibits slaughterhouses from killing so-called downer cows for human consumption.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed yesterday that a six-year-old dairy cow in Alberta had mad-cow disease, Canada’s 12th case since 2003.Â The cow posed no risk to human health since it wasn’t milking at the time and no part of the animal entered the food supply, said George Luterbach, the agency’s senior veterinarian.Â The animal was likely fed contaminated feed in her first year of life, he said.Â The farmer consulted his veterinarian, euthanized the cow, and sent samples to a provincial lab for testing.Â The positive result was confirmed yesterday and the government is looking for other animals born within 12 months on the same farm.